S1 BLOG

Will Coastal US Homes Be Underwater Before the Mortgages Are Even Due?

A new study predicts that coastal flooding could become a regular event- as much as three times a week, according to new study published in the journal PLOS One- by 2045, or before the mortgages on houses bought this year would even come due.

Right now, coastal floods occur in the mid-Atlantic region about once a month. The new projections would mean ten times more floods, perhaps as many as three times a week, or 120 per year.

Seas have recently been rising worldwide by an average of about an inch a decade, a rate of change that’s accelerating as global warming expands oceans and causes ice to melt. The East Coast endured sea-level rise at more than twice the global rate from 2002 to 2014.

New Yorkers should take some comfort, though, in knowing that New York State is trying to prepare for sea level rise, increased flooding and other climate-affected changes in the weather and the frequency of high tide floods. Last week, The NYS Department of Environmental Conservationm revised its sea level rise projections to confront the future challenges of climate change. These measures to confront sea-level rise are based on in-depth scientific research conducted by scientists through the support of the ClimAID study. According to the study, if pollution and the burning of fossil fuels continue at the current rate, sea levels could rise by six-feet, causing significant damage to island nations and coastal communities throughout the world.